Poplar guitar build

[dnic]

Hey folks, I mentioned somewhere that I bought enough hardware to build two guitars so here's the next one.

It is Poplar with a three piece neck and a bloodwood fret board.
Many of the jigs or templates from the last guitar will work on this one as they are or with slight mods.
Some pics.

The body roughed out and routed for pups and neck pocket. I thought I'd try out the PRS style neck pocket this time. If you noticed the deeper cuts in the rear pick up cavity. The answer to the question "can router bits come loose?" Yes.


With the control cavity and the back contours.


The three piece neck. African Mahogany with Narra in the middle.
The scarf joint. I was playing with the peg head shape and will likely use my standard jonah shape.

dane

[cknowles]

Very cool. I'm in love with the shape of the body. That's your own design right?

Chris

[dnic]

Chris, yes the body shape is my design. It was larger in the first draft. Closer to a semi-hollow in size and when I pulled the sketch out years later I cut it down a lot.

After laying out one with a Bigsby I found the body not quite long enough for that system so I lengthened it 3/4".

The first jonah bodies.


The first two are exactly the same shape, one with edge binding one with radius edges and carved cutaways. And of course the horns on the third are pointy.



The body on these last two builds had a little redesign on the horns. And the body is 3/4" longer as mentioned above.

dane

edited to add pics and verbiage.

[hoz]

I loved that paint job!

[dnic]

Thanks hoz.

dane

[Deleted]

Can you tell the Pros and cons of Poplar? I have read so many different things about Poplar for guitars. I did one of my guitars in Poplar and seems to have good tone and it was easy to work with. But some of the loco guitar players seem to give me this look, the look that says why Poplar?
Well, let me know your take on it. And what to think of Bass wood? I haven't used it yet but I am getting ready to build a body out of some Bass Wood I have had laying around. Thanks for any insight!

[dnic]

Pros and cons of Poplar. Pros, good tone, easy to work, tight grain no filling, low cost, available in 2" thickness, Fender uses Poplar, It's very similar to Alder in density and workability. Cons, none, IMHO.
Like you said they are just loco guitar players that don't get it.

As for Bass wood, I don't have any personal experience with it. I know a lot of overseas manufactures use it because it's light, easy to work and cheap. I was at my not so local hardwood supplier Last week and looked for some bass wood in 8/4" and they didn't have it. They did have some 4/4" but that's not thick enough for body wood. The bass wood was extremely light weight. I did pick up a nice piece of lace wood 1" net that will be a few neck blanks in another life.

Just as a side note, the blue guitar pictured above is totally Poplar except for the Maple fret board.

Later

dane

edit for language repair.

[kcjewel]

As usual Dane your build is looking amazing. I've built 2 guitars with basswood bodies. VERY easy to route or modify. I think you could use an electric tooth brush to remove wood inside the cavities. It is just a few notches above balsa wood.
John and the crew

[kcjewel]

This Brownsville silver sparkle les paul is a weird bird. the body is semi hollow with mahogany plywood down the center and around the sides. the top and back are 1/8" pressboard. Has a really nice sound with the hot rod set. I'm doing the setup again to get everything exactly the way I like but I'm impressed with the pegboard without holes.
John and the crew

[Deleted]

Hey again thanks for the info! I knew that Fender and some others use Poplar and Bass wood for there guitars and even have had a few in the past. I liked them and just could not understand why so many turn the nose down at them. I got my Bass wood off E-Bay at a real good price and it is one peace (14x20). I am planing on using it to rebuild an old guitar that was made out of plywood. The body on it has bowed over the years. It was made back in the 60's. Should be a fun build.

[dnic]

Here are a few more pics.


This is with one coat of shellac. When people see this wood (poplar) they always think it looks really cool and say I should leave it natural. But so far I always have other plans.


This is the second coat with a little white mixed in for an under coat. I like this look a lot and could be talked into doing one like this.

dane

[dnic]

Hey KC, I don't know how I missed your posts But thank you.

I like the idea of routing pick up cavities with a electric tooth brush.
Do you think the finish will hold them together? I should ask, how have your two held up? Do they ding up any easier then alder?

And about this Brownsville LP, Plywood and Masonite huh? And it sounds good. I'm beginning to think it's all about pick ups. And maybe neck wood and size. Do you know if anyone makes MDF necks?

dane

[cknowles]

MDF Necks!!! I almost spewed my coffee!

I can just see it, all MDF guitar sustains for days, weighs 50 lbs.

Chris

[GuitarAttack Forum]

I really like that poplar body. I'm with Chris...MDF neck?

I have a "Mythbusters" post on the Opinion page that talks about Fender's use of poplar. Bottom line: in most blind "taste tests" with Teles, most of the pro users preferred poplar over other woods...when they didn't know it was poplar!

BTW -- my MDF "neck jig" guitar body sounds killer!

Good luck,
John

[dnic]

I read that myth busters when you posted it before. I'd like the idea of blowing away the wood snobs and the name brand snobs as well.
Thanks for the link john.

Chris, can you change your avatar to a pic of you spewing coffee? Thanks for picking up on my subtle humor.

dane